Syndicates are the ideal way for the ordinary punter to experience the thrill of the race

By Kirsten Binnie

THE syndication of racehorses has been popular now since the 1960s when they were set up to shift slightly the onus of racing away from elite, wealthy owners in the UK and towards a shared structure which is more affordable and more accessible to the ordinary racing fan.

Although breeding syndicates have long been popular for successful stallions, the actual owning of racehorses had traditionally been held by a single person, or a business, a family or a partnership.

In their more modern form, over the last 10 to 15 years, syndicates as clubs, where horses can have hundreds or even thousands of owners who all pay an annual fee, have grown to play a larger part in racing and these horses have won at the top courses - from Aintree and Cheltenham to Ascot as part of these 'clubs' with multiple owners.

Old Gold Racing was set up in 2019 by its founders, Ed Seyfried (now CEO) and James Day (COO) with the idea of bringing mass syndication to the public in an affordable way which allows better access to the racehorse than ever before.

There are 34 syndicated horses with Old Gold at the moment and plans to expand further over the next few months and years.

Social Media and Partnerships Manager at Old Gold Racing, Pete Marsden, said: "Owning a racehorse outright is, of course, very expensive in its nature. With training fees, vet bills, feed for the horse, and then the cost of buying and running a horse, it can at times seem like you can be throwing money down the drain.

"The popularity of syndicates or partnerships is definitely factored in with the costs, whether its splitting it between 10 friends, a larger group, or doing what we do and presenting it to thousands."

Syndication makes the dream of racehorse ownership more accessible - but it also enables the sharers to follow the sport with a vested interest in a particuar horse. They are also kept up to date with weekly newsletters, regular stable visits to the trainers and the chance to ballot for owner's badges on the day their horse is racing.

Pete adds: "We have also seen the benefit of a community being created through syndication, with our private facebook group topping 10,000 members. This means that you will find members meeting new friends on racedays as well as catching up with old ones.

"We are very proud of our diverse backgrounds within our community of owners, and we are always delighted to welcome new faces, whether they see themselves as racing experts or not, there is always a place for them to start."

Although having so many people involved in each horse can cause its problems, Old Gold have found that in general the owners are all supportive and meet up at the courses to cheer on their horses - often easily recognised by them wearing the Old Gold scarf in the club's colours of white and gold.

"As much as we try, we can't please everyone, and with so many owners having a connection to a certain horse, there are bound to be those who are disappointed if a horse hasn't run to their full potential on any given day," says Pete.

"We always try to mitigate that with immediate insights from both the jockey and trainer, broadcasted to owners on our bespoke app so they can get a full understanding or what went on, even if they are not on the course themselves."

Owners at Old Gold travel all over the country to visit horses and trainers, some coming up from England to see their horse run at a Scottish meeting - many owners will go to visit their horse for stable visits, travelling long distances and go to the races for a few days or turn it into an extended stay in the area.

"We are very proud of our raceday experience which we showcase on a weekly basis and part of that involves the trainers, jockeys and staff getting involved too. We couldn't praise the yards we work with enough and the fact they always have time for our owners, whether they own one share or 100."

Apple Away, an Old Gold Racing horse, at Perth Races.

Old Gold currently has more National Hunt horses than flat horses and this has proved popular as the NH horses race for longer and allow for more a relationship to develop with the owners. They have some flat horses too now and have plans to expand on the number of horses racing on the flat.

There are also partnerships with the Mick Fitzgerald Racing Club where Mick runs the club and Old Gold deal with the shares and updates. Other syndicates are run with charities, such as the Prostate Cancer UK for Gerald's Charity Syndicate, and these have raised over £100,000 for charities to date.

Raceday experiences often see a deluge of Old Gold owners at the tracks and in the winner's enclosure and stable visits can attract up to 300 people attending to see horses parade and are often run alongside local racing with discounted tickets.

Pete added: "We love our stable visits and getting to meet so many different people all joined together with this passion for their horse."

The welfare of the racehorse, and its use in retirement is also important to the club and the owners and there are frequent updates for former owners from Retraining of Racehorses and the Greatwood Charity, among other rehabilitation centres.

"I can't stress enugh how important it is to the team and management, as well as the owners, that our horses are cared for when they retire. We have a dedicated team within the office that look after this and make sure that every place that our horses end up is thoroughly vetted."

The Old Gold team, based at Moreton-In-Marsh, in the Cotswolds, have a varied background of novices to the racing world to those who come from equestrian families, the bloodstock industry or have worked on racing yards.

Shares start at £64 each which covers the syndicate term of 12-14 months. There are also syndicates with 200 owners with the Fittocks Stud priced at £299 per share.

Contact Old Gold Racing on http://wwwoldgold.com

Retraining of Racehorses (RoR) on https://ror.org.uk

Greatwood Chartity on https://www.greatwoodcharity.org